TX Medical Board Rapped for Poor Oversight

Consumer safety advocate group Public Citizen has a difference of opinion with the Texas Medical Board.

Public Citizen says its review of data from two decades shows that physician oversight in Texas is weak. The spokeswoman for the board disagrees and says comparative data with other states suggest the board is among the strongest in the nation.

TMB letter
to Gov. Rick Perry

In a letter and report sent Wednesday to Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Public Citizen urged him "initiate immediate action to improve the performance of the Texas Medical Board … and thereby protect patients in Texas from physicians who should have been, but were not, disciplined."

Public Citizen said it analyzed 21 years of data from the National Practitioner Data Bank and found that 459 physicians in Texas who were sanctioned by hospitals, HMOs and other healthcare facilities, for posing a serious risk to patient health, and in some cases for multiple infractions, have yet to be disciplined by the state medical board.